Launching rockets in the shadow of Kennedy’s ‘moon speech’

More than five decades after President John F. Kennedy gave his famous “we choose to go to the moon” speech at Rice Stadium — and just a few weeks before the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing — 108 high school students participating in Rice University’s Aerospace and Aviation Academy launched prototype, water-powered rockets in West Lot 4 outside of the stadium June 24.

The June 22-July 3 camp for 14- to 18-year-olds from across the country is being hosted for the first time by Rice’s Glasscock School of Continuing Studies in partnership with Envision.

The students are being led by Leroy Chiao, a former NASA astronaut and International Space Station commander and current Rice lecturer in mechanical engineering, and other instructors. The students’ final project is to design and launch weather balloons into the atmosphere. (Photos by Jeff Fitlow)

About Jeff Falk

Jeff Falk is director of national media relations in Rice University's Office of Public Affairs.